Prospect Preview: March 3

Spring training games might not mean anything as far as the regular season is concerned, but it is a great time for watching prospects. That’s especially true in the early going. Lineups in the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues are littered with players who rank among our Top 30 prospect lists for each team. To help keep you updated, we’ll run down each game’s lineup every morning and highlight the prospects in each team’s starting nine.

We’ll update the Cactus League and night Grapefruit League games as the lineups are announced.

The best game for prospects in the starting lineup today is the Astros-Phillies game. Not only is it on TV, but it includes Nick Williams, Andrew Knapp and Jake Thompson in the Phillies’ starting lineup as well as the Astros’ Matt Duffy and Tyler White, both of whom are part of the team’s first base battle.

GRAPEFRUIT LEAGUE
Baltimore vs. Tampa Bay — 1:05 p.m.

On TV? No.

PROSPECTS TO WATCH
Baltimore
OF Hyun-Soo Kim (batting fifth in left field)
OF Henry Urrutia (batting seventh at DH)
Tampa Bay
Taylor Motter (No. 21 on this year’s Top 30; batting seventh at 3B)

Detroit vs. Atlanta — 1:05 p.m.
On TV? No.

PROSPECTS TO WATCH
Atlanta
OF Hector Olivera (No. 4 on this year’s Top 30, batting sixth in left field)
LHP Sean Newcomb (No. 2; starting pitcher)
Detroit
None

Houston vs. Philadelphia (SS) — 1:05 p.m.
On TV? MLB Network, MLB.tv

PROSPECTS TO WATCH
Houston
3B — Matt Duffy (No. 28, batting fourth at 3B)
3B — Tyler White (No. 16; batting sixth at DH)
SS — Nolan Fontana (No. 29, batting ninth at 2B)
Philadelphia
C — Andrew Knapp (No. 4; batting third and catching)
OF — Nick Williams (No. 2; batting sixth in RF)
RHP — Jake Thompson (No. 3; starting pitcher)

Miami vs. St. Louis — 1:05 p.m.
On TV? No.

PROSPECTS TO WATCH
Miami
1B/OF — Xavier Scruggs (No. 27; batting third in LF)
St. Louis
None

New York Mets vs. Washington — 1:05 p.m.
On TV? No

PROSPECTS TO WATCH
New York
None
Washington
None

Philadelphia (SS) vs. New York Yankees — 1:05 p.m.
On TV? No

PROSPECTS TO WATCH
Philadelphia
OF — Roman Quinn (No. 9; leading off in CF)
SS — J.P. Crawford (No. 1; batting second at SS)
OF — Tyler Goeddel (Rule 5 pick; batting sixth in RF)
New York
OF — Slade Heathcott (No. 18; leading off in CF)
C — Gary Sanchez (No. 2; batting sixth at C)
2B — Rob Refsnyder (No. 7; batting seventh at 2B)
SS — Tyler Wade (No. 6; batting ninth at SS)

Toronto vs. Pittsburgh — 1:05 p.m.
On TV? No

PROSPECTS TO WATCH
Toronto
None
Pittsburgh
C — Elias Diaz (No. 10; starting at C)
OF — Willy Garcia (No. 12; starting in CF)

Boston vs. Minnesota — 7:05 p.m.
On TV? MLB Network.

PROSPECTS TO WATCH
Boston
SS — Deven Marrero (No. 8; batting eight at shortstop)
Minnesota
OF – Byron Buxton (No. 1; batting ninth in CF)

CACTUS LEAGUE
Chicago Cubs vs. Milwaukee (SS) — 3:05 p.m.

On TV? No.

PROSPECTS TO WATCH
Chicago
None
Milwaukee
2B — Colin Walsh (Rule 5 pick; leading off at 2B)
OF — Ramon Flores (No. 23; batting fifth in RF)

Chicago White Sox vs. Los Angeles Dodgers — 3:05 p.m.
On TV? MLB Network

PROSPECTS TO WATCH
Chicago
OF — Jacob May (No. 7; batting ninth in CF)
Los Angeles
SS — Corey Seager (No. 1; batting sixth at SS)
OF — Trayce Thompson (No. 13 ;batting ninth in CF)

Cincinnati vs. Cleveland — 3:05 p.m.
On TV? MLB.tv

PROSPECTS TO WATCH
Cincinnati
OF — Jake Cave (Rule 5 Pick; leading off in CF)
IF — Alex Blandino (No. 7; batting ninth at 3B)
Cleveland
OF — Tyler Naquin (No. 6; batting sixth at DH)
SS — Erik Gonzalez (No. 12; batting eighth at 2B)

Milwaukee (SS) vs. San Francisco — 3:05 p.m.
On TV? No.

PROSPECTS TO WATCH
Milwaukee
2B/SS — Yadiel Rivera (No. 21; batting seventh at SS)
RHP — Zach Davies (No. 12; starting pitcher)
San Francisco
OF — Jarrett Parker (No. 9; batting fourth in RF)

Texas vs. Kansas City — 3:05 p.m.
On TV? No.

PROSPECTS TO WATCH
Texas
OF — Lewis Brinson (No. 2; leading off in CF)
OF — Nomar Mazara (No. 3; batting third in RF)
3B — Joey Gallo; (No. 1; batting fifth at 3B)
OF — Patrick Kivlehan (No. 25; batting seventh at DH)
Kansas City
OF — Brett Eibner (No. 17 — batting fifth in LF)
OF — Jose Martinez (No. 24 — batting sixth in RF)

Colorado vs. Arizona— 3:05 p.m.
On TV? No.

PROSPECTS TO WATCH
Colorado
SS — Trevor Story (No. 8; batting second at SS)
C — Tom Murphy (No. 7; batting sixth at C)
C — Dom Nunez (No. 16; batting eighth at DH)
Arizona
OF — Socrates Brito (No. 6; batting second in LF)